5 York Villas - History
Planning permission for the house was granted in 1876, and it was built between 3rd April 1877 and 10th July 1877 (this being the date that the house sold to the first owner).
The design of 5 York Villas is different to the other houses in the terrace, in that it is narrower, and has a central stair well rather than the traditional Victorian terrace design with the stairs down one side.
Ground floor plan of Nos 4 and 5 York Villas
The house does not have a basement at the front of the house (unlike all the others), and its entrance is on the end of the house via a vestibule rather than the front.
Plan from 1877 showing house and greenhouse
It is possible that No.5 was built after the rest of the terrace was completed. The walls in the loft and under the front ground floor room adjoining no 4 are rendered, indicating that they were intended to be outside.
A recreation of how the house looked in 1880
Over the years, a number of changes to the house have been made:
In 1886, planning permission for a bathroom was granted, and was built on top of the existing single story entrance vestibule, the original window in the side of the house appears to have been reused as the bathroom window (it matches windows at the other end of the terrace), and the resulting hole was enlarged to became the doorway from the house into the bathroom. The floor of the bathroom was built directly over the existing flat roof of the vestibule.
An 1895 plan exists for re-draining the house (see plan).
It is likely that the cloakroom inside the entrance vestibule is not original, as the tiled floor of the entranceway lacks a border along the side
adjoining the cloakroom.
The windows on the side and rear of the entrance vestibule seem to have been replaced.
The chimney has been rebuilt above the roof line.
The rear bay windows were replaced in 1992.
In the 1930s, the record of residents indicate that the house consisted of two flats. There is no physical evidence that this was ever the case, so it may have just been convenient for the residents to have it listed this way.
A large lean-to greenhouse was located on what is now the garden of 5 York Villas before the house was built & was still there in 1895. A brick built shed in the corner of the garden was probably the heating plant (it still has a capped gas pipe inside). There is a conduit running along the back wall of what was the greenhouse, and until recently there was a chimney at the far end.
Planning permission for the garage now situated in the garden was granted in 1953. The garage is partly over the location of the greenhouse, so this may have been when it was demolished.
Like almost all of the houses in the road, No. 5 is now painted.